Words like icon and hero and trailblazer get tossed around a little too freely these days, and that is sad because when they are really needed--really deserved--they look pale and spent. If anyone deserved those words and more at their full strength, it is Dolly Parton, who passed away on August 25 at the age of 80.
Her story is now legendary: growing up poor in a family with twelve children in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, her long early struggles to have her songs and her voice heard, and later fights to step out from the shadows of more established male performers to stake out her well-deserved claim to center stage, her eventual break out of the insular (at the time) world of Country music stardom to a national and in time worldwide fame, her forward-thinking business sense, and, of course, her lifelong philanthropy including Dolly Parton's Imagination Library that brings the joy of reading and book ownership to children in five countries. To date, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library has gifted over 330 million books to more than 3 million kids.
Through it all, her wit, charm, humility, and sheer solid-gold talent shone through. She will be missed by millions, but her legacy will live on.
Learn more about Dolly Parton's Imagination Library and how to register your child
Books by Dolly Parton
For Kids
Dolly Parton's Billy the Kid Makes It Big
For Adults
Books about Dolly Parton
For Kids
For Adults
Music
Freegal Playlist: Remembering Dolly Parton
DVDs
Related Content
NPR Obituary: Dolly Parton, one of country music's most singular performers, has died at age 80
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